Category: Blog

I had a fun time yesterday on Radio Universe being interviewed by hostess Justina Agozie Yesutar with her all woman production team – Bara Yunus Khadija and Asah Daniella. The programme is appropriately dubbed “Yaa Asantewaa” (after the famous Ashanti Queen Mother who led the Ashanti’s in battle against the British in 1900.

I was impressed (but not suprised) with the dynamism, professionalism and enthusiasm of the Yaa Asantewaa Team. Yesterday’s programme was an organisational profile of AWDF and is part of a series highlighting women’s rights organisations in Ghana

(Nana with hostess Justina)

(Nana with hostess Justina and Producer Bara)

(AWDF’s Programme Officer for Fundraising & Communications, Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah)

Women in Senegal are in general confined to traditional roles. They are married at a young age; half of them live in polygynous unions and are subjects to multiple childbirths. According to genderindex.org, “Up to 20% of girls undergo Female Genital Mutilation. Most women in Senegal have no educational opportunities. Only 23 percent of females over 15 years of age are literate, while the rates for males over age 15 are 43 percent.”

Additionally, discrimination against women is pervasive, especially in rural areas. The Government frequently does not enforce anti-discrimination laws.
It is against this context that the Senegalese feminist forum was held between 7th-9th August 2009. The meeting brought together 30 women from different back grounds including community based women’s representatives, women’s human rights activists, writers, film makers, lecturers and women from the development sector.

The objectives of the Forum were:

• To create an effective feminist movement in Senegal as well as a safe and autonomous space for feminist organizing.
• To discuss critical issues affecting the women’s movement in Senegal.
• To develop strategies to promote feminist leadership in women‘s organizations in Senegal and to look into how best the charter of feminist principles can be domesticated by women’s organizations in Senegal.

The Forum was held because there is a need to strengthen the feminist movement in Senegal, create feminist spaces and to put the feminist movement of the country on a solid ground. Feminists in Senegal want the women’s movement to be dynamic, the forum was to help strategize to include the youth in the feminist struggle as the leadership believes, the youth are the future and they should take up the work of fighting for women’s rights. In spite of constant struggle, Senegalese women are still oppressed by patriarchy. Patriarchy can be defined as a social organization marked by the supremacy of the father in the clan or family, the legal dependence of wives and children, and the reckoning of descent and inheritance in the male line; broadly : control by men of a disproportionately large share of power or simply a family, community, or society based on this system or governed by men. In Senegal, patriarchy cuts across every sector of life; socially, economically and culturally. Women in Senegal are raised in a society that sees the male as the head and only occupant of a leadership position, women are taught to revere their male counter parts and always put them first. With this kind of outlook gaining access to strategic positions in the country becomes difficult. According to www. afrol.com “Senegalese law stipulates that women and men should have equal access to bank loans, but in reality women often struggle to obtain loans.” In Senegal, women are seen as second class citizens. “Senegalese law grants equal property ownership rights to men and women. Women are legally entitled to access to land, but tradition makes it impossible for them to inherit land. Similarly, women may be in a financial position to have access to property other than land, but their husbands can restrict their ability to exercise this right.”

Senegalese women are demanding and claiming their rights, organizations like Groupe de Recherche sur les Femmes et les Lois au Senegal(GREFELS )and Association of African Women for Research and Development (AAWORD) are leading the way by supporting to increase the autonomy of women and linking them with feminist and progressive groups, to build a powerful African women’s movement linking human rights to the theory and practice of development and to bring forth African Women’s contribution to sustainable and democratic development. The Senegalese feminist Forum sought to re-echo the voices of these women. During the meeting challenges of the feminist movement in Senegal was bought to the fore. A key challenge is the issue of religious fundamentalism. The religious system of Senegal hinders women from being bold enough to express them selves and their views.

Another challenge that came up during the meeting was the inability of people or women to affirm that they are feminist. Women identifying them selves as feminists is a challenge in Senegal, according to Marjorie Mbilinyi, board member of Tanzania Gender Networking Programme “feminist are fine with the feminist struggle as long as there is no struggle” these women do not want to own their identity as feminist, they do not own the challenges, threats, difficulty and opportunity that goes along with owning an identity as a feminist.

In solidarity, the AWDF funded the forum with a grant of US$20,000. The AWDF made a presentation on the charter of feminist principles. The charter serves as an accountability mechanism for feminist organizing on the continent and is a tool for peer review amongst African feminist organizations.

The general belief behind the African Feminist Forum is to create an autonomous space for feminists with no, ”ifs”, “buts” and “however”. The Senegalese feminist forum provided a safe space for feminists in Senegal to dream and do things differently by creating an autonomous space for Senegalese feminist, to domesticate the charter of principles in Senegal, to have a body of knowledge reflecting feminist agency that can be shared with feminist s around the region.

Thelma Owusu-Boakye (Programme Assistant, Fundraising & Communications)
with Rissi Assani-Alabi (Programme Officer, Francophone Programme Officer)

My mother was a kitchen girl, kitchen girl…
My father was a garden boy, garden boy…
That’s why I’m a feminist, feminist…
That’s why I’m a feminist, feminist…

(Song sung by Siphiwe Hlope, Executive Director of Swaziland Positive Living (SWAPOL) at the CEO Forum in Kampala, Uganda)

The women are coming, around the corner
The women are coming, around the corner
Bisi is coming, around the corner
Usu is coming, around the corner

(Song sung by Siphiwe Hlope, Executive Director of Swaziland Positive Living (SWAPOL) at the CEO Forum in Kampala, Uganda)

Did Obama say anything we did not already know?

I thought I had heard all about the Obama speech (I have said on several occasions that he did not say anything I did not know) until recently when I heard two well educated and learned professionals discussing some of the ills in our society. They spoke specifically about:

• Corruption in the public sector
• The slow economy since the change of government in Ghana ( which took place in January)
• The sudden fall of the cedi against the dollar and
• President Obama’s recent statement calling on Africans to take responsibility for themselves – which in turn will garner further support from America.

This statement by President Obama was hailed as the solution to the numerous issues confronting us as a nation.

I have heard several people allude to Obama’s speech, making reference to this one statement and made it seem as if “Prophet Obama” has spoken and this is it. I was most impressed with the choice of Ghana for the visit and happy that President Obama came to Ghana but the truth is he did not say anything I did not know and I did not expect him to. Did Africans not know they have to take responsibility for themselves? In each and every ethnic African tribe there is a saying or proverb that alludes to this. So why are we applauding Obama for repeating what we know? Or for some it is the wisest saying in their time? I find so many people including my two learned friends hail this as “the speech” of our time. I have also seen so many think we were insulted on our own land and yet applauded the insults.

For most of us President Obama did not say anything we did not know. He only echoed and emphasized what we know, what we have said amongst ourselves and in our own small ways are implementing in a bid to enable us achieve greater heights. Several individuals and tons of Ghanaians are daily engaged in taking responsibility for themselves in a bid to create a better place and an enabling environment for themselves and for others to thrive. These are genuine hard working people with no political leverage. However as a nation the state and government hardly offers an enabling environment to buffer the efforts of individuals. We are daily confronted with painful bureaucratic and slow institutions which includes negative attitudes and poor ethics displayed in the workplace – this we encounter both at the public and private levels.

Perhaps one major statement which I think Obama should have demanded as a condition for USA support is the statement that “Africa does not need strong men but strong institutions”. Yes we need strong institutions to enforce law and order. We need strong institutions to implement policies, to check corruption and to enforce good practices in order to move our country forward. As for the issue of strong men we are all witnesses of how they have failed us and have led us to our present predicament as a nation. Maybe having strong women would make a difference. Let us consider this and work towards bringing on board strong women as we build strong institutions. I am certain we will see a difference.

I thought I had heard all about the Obama speech (I have said on several occasions that he did not say anything I did not know) until recently when I heard two well educated and learned professionals discussing some of the ills in our society. They spoke specifically about:

• Corruption in the public sector
• The slow economy since the change of government in Ghana ( which took place in January)
• The sudden fall of the cedi against the dollar and
• President Obama’s recent statement calling on Africans to take responsibility for themselves – which in turn will garner further support from America.

This statement by President Obama was hailed as the solution to the numerous issues confronting us as a nation.

I have heard several people allude to Obama’s speech, making reference to this one statement and made it seem as if “Prophet Obama” has spoken and this is it. I was most impressed with the choice of Ghana for the visit and happy that President Obama came to Ghana but the truth is he did not say anything I did not know and I did not expect him to. Did Africans not know they have to take responsibility for themselves? In each and every ethnic African tribe there is a saying or proverb that alludes to this. So why are we applauding Obama for repeating what we know? Or for some it is the wisest saying in their time? I find so many people including my two learned friends hail this as “the speech” of our time. I have also seen so many think we were insulted on our own land and yet applauded the insults.

For most of us President Obama did not say anything we did not know. He only echoed and emphasized what we know, what we have said amongst ourselves and in our own small ways are implementing in a bid to enable us achieve greater heights. Several individuals and tons of Ghanaians are daily engaged in taking responsibility for themselves in a bid to create a better place and an enabling environment for themselves and for others to thrive. These are genuine hard working people with no political leverage. However as a nation the state and government hardly offers an enabling environment to buffer the efforts of individuals. We are daily confronted with painful bureaucratic and slow institutions which includes negative attitudes and poor ethics displayed in the workplace – this we encounter both at the public and private levels.

Perhaps one major statement which I think Obama should have demanded as a condition for USA support is the statement that “Africa does not need strong men but strong institutions”. Yes we need strong institutions to enforce law and order. We need strong institutions to implement policies, to check corruption and to enforce good practices in order to move our country forward. As for the issue of strong men we are all witnesses of how they have failed us and have led us to our present predicament as a nation. Maybe having strong women would make a difference. Let us consider this and work towards bringing on board strong women as we build strong institutions. I am certain we will see a difference.

Grantee Spotlight: Rural Women’s Movement in Swaziland

An email update sent to Nafi Chinery, AWDF’s Capacity Building Officer: Feedback from Rural Women’s Movement (RWM), an AWDF grantee in Swaziland on their experiences at the recent International Resource Mobilisation Workshop (IWRM) held in Bangalore, India. AWDF supported RWM and 4 other grantees to attend the IWRM.

Dear Nafi,

On behalf of RWM I wish to thank AWDF for its support.

My being part of the 9th IWRM in Bangalore was an eye opener for me. I have always been too scared to ask for financial assistance. Since I initiated RWM in 1998 I have been getting like 30% of my salary because asking for money for me has always been difficult. Even working on a budget has been difficult it has always felt like we are asking for too much. But after participating in the 9th IWRM I feel confident enough to ask for financial assistance without feeling like we are a burden.

My expectations were met and I had an opportunity to meet with fundraisers who have been in this field for a long time. All the sessions were relevant for me. But of course there were some that did not really meet my expectations. The sessions that I really liked were the sessions that were tackling issues about how to raise funds in the time of this recession. Those covered topics that prompted me to start looking for local support and not depend on international financial support. It also prompted me to look into making financial requests to Business sector. As the RWM we have not looked into the sector and have not tapped on the local resources. So the sessions were great in opening these potential opportunities for RWM.
The lesson I learned was that it is important for organizations to create space to reflect on our work and share our experiences. It was very informative for me to learn from other people’s experiences. Sitting and listening to presenters sharing their experiences was inspiring.

Some of the stories were painful like the one where a local man (I have forgotten )his name was talking about starting a sanitary towel organization, in communities where women had no material to use as sanitary towels and were using sand. But because of his passion he raised funds and mobilized resources for the program and the program is now making 6,000 sanitary towels a day and women have not have to suffer using sand which is cold in winter and very hot in summer. In his presentation he says after raising awareness about the plight of women in his area funders poured financial support in such a way that he had to ask them to channel money to other organizations because it was too much money for his organization. The lesson I learned on his presentation is that it is good for one to follow ones heart and try something that has never been tried before. And that if a proposal is clear and it responds to the communities needs and aspirations it is not a challenge to get financial support for the program/project.

I also learned that in most situations it helps to make a request for what [the] organization needs and not the money. Like in the issue of a presentation on sanitary towels the fundraiser was not asking for money to buy the sanitary towels but he was asking for pieces of materials so those who had unused pieces [of] material donated material/fabrics and those who did not have fabric/material donated money. When writing a proposal I have always been asking for money. I learned that it’s a great idea to ask for a computer rather than asking for money to buy a computer because the funder might know someone out there who might be desperate to give away computers and not money. Also I learned that the funding communities do not have time to read lengthy proposals its good to prepare a short proposal and it must be clear and to the point.

The challenge was that there was a lot going on, very good sessions happening at the same time. I think the program was a bit too tight there was no time to connect with other participants and engage on the issues coming out of the sessions and learn from one another’s experiences.

If the resources allow it would be good to keep a bit of time for reflection and for the participants to connect and share ideas, even just for half an hour a day. The participants are a very good resource in events like the IWRM; they have a lot to share with other people and to learn from other people. The sessions did not create much of that space because of time constraints.

The idea about having this kind of event in India was great. I think India has a lot to teach other developing countries about how they dealt with their own development challenges. From the experience I learned at 9th IWRM, after listening to my report RWM has started looking at resources within RWM. The RWM Committee is suggesting to the members that members should contribute about $1-50 per year. We are also working on a strategy on how we are going to approach the business sector and individuals who are sympathetic to RWM work.

I feel honoured to have been part of the IWRM event and would like to thank AWDF for making this opportunity available to RWM. It would be very good for me to learn from other participants experiences, how they found the IWRM and how it has changed their approach in their respective organizations. We did not have time to connect this might be a space for us to share our experiences.

Sizani Ngubane, Rural Women’s Movement

An email update sent to Nafi Chinery, AWDF’s Capacity Building Officer: Feedback from Rural Women’s Movement (RWM), an AWDF grantee in Swaziland on their experiences at the recent International Resource Mobilisation Workshop (IWRM) held in Bangalore, India. AWDF supported RWM and 4 other grantees to attend the IWRM.

Dear Nafi,

On behalf of RWM I wish to thank AWDF for its support.

My being part of the 9th IWRM in Bangalore was an eye opener for me. I have always been too scared to ask for financial assistance. Since I initiated RWM in 1998 I have been getting like 30% of my salary because asking for money for me has always been difficult. Even working on a budget has been difficult it has always felt like we are asking for too much. But after participating in the 9th IWRM I feel confident enough to ask for financial assistance without feeling like we are a burden.

My expectations were met and I had an opportunity to meet with fundraisers who have been in this field for a long time. All the sessions were relevant for me. But of course there were some that did not really meet my expectations. The sessions that I really liked were the sessions that were tackling issues about how to raise funds in the time of this recession. Those covered topics that prompted me to start looking for local support and not depend on international financial support. It also prompted me to look into making financial requests to Business sector. As the RWM we have not looked into the sector and have not tapped on the local resources. So the sessions were great in opening these potential opportunities for RWM.
The lesson I learned was that it is important for organizations to create space to reflect on our work and share our experiences. It was very informative for me to learn from other people’s experiences. Sitting and listening to presenters sharing their experiences was inspiring.

Some of the stories were painful like the one where a local man (I have forgotten )his name was talking about starting a sanitary towel organization, in communities where women had no material to use as sanitary towels and were using sand. But because of his passion he raised funds and mobilized resources for the program and the program is now making 6,000 sanitary towels a day and women have not have to suffer using sand which is cold in winter and very hot in summer. In his presentation he says after raising awareness about the plight of women in his area funders poured financial support in such a way that he had to ask them to channel money to other organizations because it was too much money for his organization. The lesson I learned on his presentation is that it is good for one to follow ones heart and try something that has never been tried before. And that if a proposal is clear and it responds to the communities needs and aspirations it is not a challenge to get financial support for the program/project.

I also learned that in most situations it helps to make a request for what [the] organization needs and not the money. Like in the issue of a presentation on sanitary towels the fundraiser was not asking for money to buy the sanitary towels but he was asking for pieces of materials so those who had unused pieces [of] material donated material/fabrics and those who did not have fabric/material donated money. When writing a proposal I have always been asking for money. I learned that it’s a great idea to ask for a computer rather than asking for money to buy a computer because the funder might know someone out there who might be desperate to give away computers and not money. Also I learned that the funding communities do not have time to read lengthy proposals its good to prepare a short proposal and it must be clear and to the point.

The challenge was that there was a lot going on, very good sessions happening at the same time. I think the program was a bit too tight there was no time to connect with other participants and engage on the issues coming out of the sessions and learn from one another’s experiences.

If the resources allow it would be good to keep a bit of time for reflection and for the participants to connect and share ideas, even just for half an hour a day. The participants are a very good resource in events like the IWRM; they have a lot to share with other people and to learn from other people. The sessions did not create much of that space because of time constraints.

The idea about having this kind of event in India was great. I think India has a lot to teach other developing countries about how they dealt with their own development challenges. From the experience I learned at 9th IWRM, after listening to my report RWM has started looking at resources within RWM. The RWM Committee is suggesting to the members that members should contribute about $1-50 per year. We are also working on a strategy on how we are going to approach the business sector and individuals who are sympathetic to RWM work.

I feel honoured to have been part of the IWRM event and would like to thank AWDF for making this opportunity available to RWM. It would be very good for me to learn from other participants experiences, how they found the IWRM and how it has changed their approach in their respective organizations. We did not have time to connect this might be a space for us to share our experiences.

Sizani Ngubane, Rural Women’s Movement

Currently, one of my favourite ways of enjoying Wednesday evenings is to watch the “Zain Africa Challenge”. It’s a quiz organised by Zain and it’s for selected Universities in Africa. The quiz master of the show is great and leaves an “indelible mark” on his audience – a good enough reason to make a date with him every week on the show.

This quiz is based on general knowledge with topics ranging from history, science, African culture, geography, literature, music and current affairs.I don’t think any syllabus is given so the student’s performance depends on their understanding of what’s happening around them and how knowledgeable and versatile they are when it comes to issues covered on the show.

The quiz started with 5 Ghanaian Universities and before long, four were evicted during the 1st round leaving only one that made it to the 2nd stage. As to how they got there it was a miracle. At the 2nd stage, the final Ghanaian university was evicted.

Looking at Ghanaian universities today, it is hardly a surprise that they were eliminated so early? I for one think that our Universities are now places encouraging rote learning, rather than places where ingenuity is rewarded.

The issue here is whose fault is this? Is it the faults of students, lecturers or government? A lecturer who takes over 600 students for one course has no option than to let the class answer “fill in questions”, true or false and mostly objective questions that merely require you to reproduce what the lecturer has taught you. Even these responses can be found in handouts that the lecturers themselves have produced. There is no room for a student to research on any topic unless the student is in a class of less than 100 students and the lecturer is prepared to take the time to mark, or the student loves studying and has a hobby of reading, but for the average student…When even an assignment or a term paper is given that requires students to research, how many students get the papers back?

In my days at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, it was rare to see the “Junior Common Room” full with diligent students. In face, whenever you saw the Common Room full then you will knew there was a football match on. On “normal” days, the common room was a place for playing pool. Students prefer reading novels (that is if they read) to reading newspapers and prefer watching movies to watching the news.

In my opinion the subject of quality university education in Ghana is a challenge to the nation as a whole and it behoves on each and every individual contribute to making our educational system better.

Where do we start from and how do we do it?

Mavis Gardiner
Finance Assistant

Over the weekend, I attended the final funeral rites of a close relative at one of the suburbs in Accra. Unfortunately for me, most of the activities during the church service were in Ga, the local language spoken by the people of Accra for which I neither speak nor understand. So to while away the time, I decided to do what I do best when I am bored; observe my surroundings and watch those coming in and leaving the church. This funeral was for an 80 year old man, and so quite a number of those who attended the church service were octogenarians. What struck me as I observed most of them slowly walking towards the entrance were the different forms of age associated disabilities that they had.

Some used walking sticks while others used sigma frames as walking aids, and a few others were held by the arm and directed to their seats.

As I observed these senior citizens, I was reminded once again of the fact that life indeed is a journey and throughout the long journey aging is one of the certainties that every one will come face to face with.

In our youth we sometimes forget about the fact that a time will come when we will be unable to do some of the things we love to do because we will be weak, deaf, dumb, frail, and blind, or have physical and mental disabilities as a result of aging.

This is what Maya Angelou, one of my favourite all time writers wrote in her book “ Even the stars look lonesome” on Aging: “At sixty my body, which had never displayed a mind of its own turned obstreperous, opinionated, and deliberately treacherous. The skin on my thighs became lumpy, my waist thickened and my breasts- its better not to mention them at all except to say that they seemed to be in a race to see which could be the first to reach my knees.”

I am only in my mid thirties and in the past decade I have seen my own body undergo various forms of transformation; my waist of course has thickened and as for my breasts I will not describe them at all.

The physical changes in the body as one age is very obvious and I think for women it is even more difficult because directly or indirectly, society puts a lot of emphasis on our physical attributes as a measure of our worth. Sometimes I wonder whether that is the reason why a lot of women shy from mentioning their correct age as if it is a crime for women to grow old.

I personally think that aging is a reminder to us that our life on earth will certainly end one day. The question is “how do we live our lives so that the end is full of memorable adventures”. My recipe for a fulfilling life journey includes;
• make the best out of every situation
• live your life to the fullest
• plan your retirement as soon as you start working
• take good care of your body both physically and spiritually.
• try new and exciting things and
• above all do not forget your creator.

Nobody should waste time grieving about growing old. Instead, begin another exciting chapter of your life today because you and only you hold the key that can make things happen. Are you still afraid of aging?

Scrolling the contacts list on my phone last week, I realised there was this “Old man” friend whom I have not spoken to for about two weeks (which was quite unusual). This man is 65 year old and a German has been my friend for close to 6 months. I tried calling him, but his phone was switched off. I persisted, but still I couldn’t get through to him.

Incidentally, he called me today and after explaining that I have been trying to speak to him for so long he told me where he had been and what he had been up to and guess what? This man who has been married for over 26 years had taken a vacation with none other than his wife. I was sooooo impressed that he has been able to keep the flame of his marriage burning all these years! He proudly said it is something he does at least every 6 months.

After the call I started asking myself questions; why my friends who have been married for as short as 5 years are now bitter enemies and at a personal level, why I have not been taking time to relax. I sat down to ponder, especially over the last question and I have to admit that my life is so much calculated and ordered that things naturally fall in place each day and week and nothing new and exciting is happening to me at all.

Prior to my moving to Accra from Takoradi, I used to love spending time in ‘solitary confinement’ in my room and going to the beach. Spending time at the beach gave me such joy and inspiration from admiring nature and putting aside all my fears and cares. But since I moved to Accra I have come up with a number of excuses not to continue with the occasional beach breaks: traffic jams on the way to the beaches, for example.

After my conversation with my German friend, I decided on an additional ‘New Year’ ‘resolutions, which considering the period I should appropriately call ‘a mid -year resolutions. And these are, to come out of my “shell”, be proactive and at least once every quarter of the year have some fun with my friends.

So in case I don’t pick a call or my phone is switched off any one of these weekends, you should know where I am.

Mavis Gardiner
Finance Assistant